April 3, 2013

Take Back the Night: April 4 event taking a stand on violence against women

Several Kansas State University organizations are joining forces to take a stand against all forms of violence against women.

The university's annual Take Back the Night event will be at 8 p.m. Thursday, April 4, on Bosco Plaza in front of the K-State Student Union. Featured speaker will be Pamela Satterwhite and a march will follow at 9 p.m. Live music also will be available. The university's Gamma Rho Lambda chapter, the LGBT Resource Center, the Women's Center, the women's studies department and counseling services are partnering to coordinate the event. It is free and the public is invited.

Take Back the Night began in 1975 when citizens of Philadelphia, Pa., rallied following the murder of Susan Alexander Speeth, a young microbiologist who was stabbed to death by a stranger no more than a block away from her home.

Since Speeth's murder, Take Back the Night has focused on eliminating all forms of sexual violence. Universities, women's centers and rape crisis centers have sponsored events throughout the country.

Mallorie McLaughlin, senior in political science, Warsaw, Mo., and the president of Fire, a student organization in the women's studies department, said she hopes Take Back the Night will raise awareness so that a more open discussion of sexual and domestic violence will be possible.

"I hope what people take away from this event is the sense that there are other like-minded individuals out there and that discussion of these issues is possible," she said.